The works of oil painter Bao Jia, 88, are in line with the evolution in Chinese art over the past seven decades.

Bao, who hails from Anhui province, gained prominence in art circles when his monumental work, Chairman Mao Inspects Ma'anshan Iron & Steel Works, was shown at the 10th National Fine Art Exhibition in 1959. He made several important paintings depicting the Chinese revolutionary course and socialist construction in the 1950s and '60s, including Chairman Mao at the Ninth CYP National Congress, a collection of the National Art Museum of China, and Triumph of Huaihai Campaign, a collection of the National Museum of China.

These historic works are now on show at The Pith of Prime, an exhibition dedicated to Bao's investment in hailing his motherland's changes by showing more than 50 works.

The exhibition at the National Art Museum of China until April 11 also shows paintings Bao produced in the 1980s, when he entered a new stage of creation: He traveled across the country and more of his works show natural wonders.

A brief stay in Paris allowed him to adopt elements of impressionism, and his paintings in the 1990s thereafter feature sketchy strokes and vivid colors to present dynamics and warmth.